Hurricane Irene Slams Region (Updated Photos)

On Sat. 8/27/11 Hurricane Irene began to hit the area with torrential rains and hurricane force winds. By the time the storm hit, the Mohegan FD was prepared with crews on standby at Headquarters and also set up a Command Center at Headquarters. Members were broken into crews and tackled the high call volume that began. Members responded to various calls which ranged from water conditions, pumpouts, trees/wires down, amongst other calls. Members spent the next 24 hours running almost 60 calls in this very severe weather! Members that were not out in the field on calls staged and rested at Headquarters, and relieved field crews as needed. Numerous roads in the fire district were blocked by trees/wires or impassable due to high water from severe flooding. The rain ended on Sunday 8/28, but the high winds continued into Sunday night. Even after the strom ended, many calls continued, as residents assessed the storm damage. Some of the highest damaged areas where numerous calls occurred were Lexington Ave with numerous trees down, Crompond section where numerous trees/wires were down, and Shrub Oak section where there was severe flooding. The damage wasnt njust limited to these areas, as trees fell throughout the district. At the time of this article, members are still occassionally responding to tree/wire and water condition/pumpout calls with some roads still impassable with numerous electric companies working in the area from many distant regions. The damage to electric lines and poles is so severe from trees down that Con Edison is receiving assistance from utility crews from various states, including Texas, Colorado, Kansas, Mississippi, Michigan, Illinois and Wisconsin. Even at the height of the storm, Mohegan members still responded to calls and assited the public to the best of their ability.